Holcoaust Survivor, Steven Frank, talks about how he and his family endured and survived the horrors of the Theresienstadt camp. Steven’s talk is timed to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah).

Steven Frank was born in 1935 in Amsterdam. His father was a well-known Dutch lawyer and his mother was the daughter of professional musicians. In March 1943 the family was taken to Barneveld and in September 1943 to Westerbork, which was a transit camp. A year later they were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Steven’s survival in Theresienstadt owed much to his mother who worked in the camp’s hospital laundry, one of the few places with regular (hot) water. His mother secretly washed people’s clothes in exchange for scraps of bread which she mixed with hot water and took to her sons in a tin saucepan as a ‘bread porridge’ – giving them additional strength with their own rations.

Fortunately for Steven, the war ended before they were deported to one of the death camps. Out of the 15,000 children sent to Theresienstadt, Steven and his brothers were 3 of only 93 children that survived the camp. After the war Steven, his brothers and mother moved to England to rebuild their lives.

Sunday 27 April, 2pm

FREE (donations welcome to support the museum's Holocaust Education programme)